A Nep vivarium gets started

[swords]

So I've just begun this new 10 gallon vertical vivarium, Still working on the plantings obviously!

Some of the first plants:

N. belli x thorelii x aristolochioides this is a rooted cutting so I can see it's the perfect diameter for this tank , not too big.

This miniature fern is Elaphoglossum peltatum "coarse form".

This is Platycerium madagascariense which is a very small staghorn fern species who's main feature is the rippled clasping shields and creates only a few 8" upward arching fertile fronds

Tank is intermediate with days 70-75*F and nights that can get down to 60*F but generally 65*F

 

[rattler]

very cool

 

[seedjar]

Nice rig! That's one healthy looking Platycerium!
~Joe

 

[pappydew]

I love it!

 

[DETHCHEEZ]

Looks Awesome...

 

[jbradt]

Impressive start!

 

[Dodge]

Awesome and impressive

Dang it, I just finished a project and was going to take a break for awhile... Now after seeing this

here we go again, lol

 

[swords]

Thanks guys here's an update,

I moved a Cephalotus in the front of the tank, it was getting blasted outside in the heat, has 4 growth points on it after I cleaned out the dead leaves and pitchers

Here's "Watermelon" Peperomia (the stripey leaves) and "panama" ficus (small oblong leaves) Not sure what the moss I've got plugged into the wall is, looks like Pilea but has very tiny button fern style "fronds" There are some other large spike moss type things here and there in it, we'll see which grows best.

This is some form of Selaginella that grows very tall I've placed a rootless N. aristolochioides here in hopes it will make roots in the live Sphag, it has defied making roots for me in any other situation I've tried in the past 6-8 months.

And lest you think I forgot that vivariums flood, this single nice black rock hides the false bottom and net, the siphon goes in through the slit in the net and then the rock hides the whole thing.

Here's a few shots of the Geosesarma vampire crab tank and the Nepenthes ampullaria collection:

"Harlequin" first pitcher in the new setup on a bed of U. gramminifolia

A orange/red seed grown amp.

This little one is already making it's first basal rosette, hopefully the first of many! LOL

 

[vraev]

Looks fantastic swords. Man!! How do u find all those minature ferns and plants? Its soo hard to get those things commonly around here. And on top of that after having some bad experiences, I have stopped buying conventional garden store plants to place with my collection.

 

[seedjar]

Oh man, I've got to build me one of those crab and amp tanks. Nicely done my friend.
~Joe

 

[swords]

Probably 90% of my plants I get off eBay or online sellers cos the garden center / nursery plants here are usually way too huge, or will be before long. Plus who knows what they've been sprayed with along the way to your vivarium.

I also buy terrarium plant "unrooted pruning grab bags" from people off the various online forums I frequent. Many forums have a classified section that can be quite fruitful to explore when looking to expand your plant list but being as they're hobbyists like us you have to hit them at the right time cos they don't usually have more than one or two "grab bags" of cuttings at any one time but you can wind up with all sorts of neat things (some named some just with a "?" on the baggie).

I hate shipping fees like anyone else but if $5 - 10 in shipping charges is the difference between never having certain plants by next week or never having them then the choice has already been made for me! LOL

 

[vraev]

fair enough. I personally am such a fan of a lot of other plant genera. Especially I love mosses and ferns. I even sent an email to a major moss supplier in new zealand requesting some samples for purchase of the 8 different sphagnum speices they have identified in their harvest bogs and never got back a reply.

 

[swords]

Look up live moss on eBay, there are several good suppliers, Angela's Treasures is my fave moss supplier. Her bags are well filled she carries a good variety of terrarium surviving mosses and I requested certain Liverworts and she went out and located it for me on her property - she rules! Look up "liverwort" on eBay, she's the only one selling it (cos of me).

Most all my moss collection is from her. I have about a dozen types in culture in various clear 6 quart shoe boxes of "mud" that I grow moss on: peat/kitty litter & powdered gypsum (plaster of paris).

I contacted a biological supplier here in the US about Liverworts and small ferns they advertised and they didn't answer me either.

 

[raimeiken]

I love the moss that's growing all over in this picture. Do you know what type of moss it is?

 

[mass]

looks like "Thuidium tamariscinum" to me..

 

[swords]

Thanks, Angela says it's Thuidium delicatulum or "Fern Moss".

 

[mass]

I wasn't sure what kind of Thuidium it was.. so I took a stab in the dark.

 

[swords]

It's as good of a guess as the name I was given! LOL

 

[raimeiken]

thanks for the ID! now i gotta go find some somewhere lol!

 

[Taliesin-DS]

It looks a bit like Vesicularia dubyana (aquatic moss)
Would you be able to grow aquatic mosses emersed in that viv ?